DAY 72. Paulo Granato de Araújo

Designer and a professor.

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English:

Paulo Granato de Araújo is a designer graduated from ESDI-RJ and a Master in Business Administration from Unisinos-RS. He is a Design professor at PUC-GO, he has worked for courses in design, publicity and advertising, and marketing administration at UFG and college Cambury. He is interested in design and brands in the context of visual identity, packaging design, industrial property, branding and entrepreneurship. Paulo is a partner of ADG and writes articles for websites called “BDxpert”, “Ideia de marketing” and “Blog do Tio Flavio/ Sou BH”. He researches about the world of brands for more than 15 years. He is a Brazilian who believes it is possible to build a better country through education, through the human growth from the force of positive attitudes.

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What is your impression about a brand called Brazil?

The challenge of talking about Brazil is connected with the difficulty in defining the Brazilian and explaining the way he thinks. Brazil is a country that has a very large diversity in many aspects: ethnic, religious, political, sexual, cultural, musical and gastronomic; it is a country of social contrasts, of rich people, poor people and among these the ascending middle class; is a nation of Spiritualists, Catholics, Evangelicals, Jews and atheists, of yuppies, “caipiras” (hillbilly), clubbers, “funkeiros” (who enjoys a Brazilian style of music called funk), sertanejos (backcountry) rockers, lovers of samba, bossa nova and jazz music, “patricinhas” (“daddy little girls”), of “periguetes” (“easy girl”), of pious people and geeks, of fans of fast-food and naturalists. It’s, undoubtedly, a multiple country. Perhaps what defi nes Brazil is precisely this multiplicity and our incredible capability and flexibility of getting along together facing all our problems.

Given the problems that we have, there is the corruption in politics accompanied by the famous impunity, the lack of credibility in the government, in the police and in various other institutions, the precarious public services, an economy full of ups and downs, the astounding bureaucracy, the taxes and the high interest rates and the recent crisis in urban transport. At long last, social problems and of moral and ethics credibility.

We have, in our country, rich and poor young people that are accommodated, individualistic, concerned with the “here and now” and with the pleasure of their lives, that do not want to study, to read and to be prepared for anything, to believe in a dream or to follow a profession. There is an elite isolated from the problems we have and many people just do not want to help anyone. What can we expect from the future of Brazil in the hands of these people? Let us not lose hope, because not all are equal, because we also found a minority of other young people with sense of collectivity, committed to the future, that are fighting for their rights, taking advantage of their time with studies and believing that they can change this country. We do have excellent people who do a decent, honest and quality job. This is the Brazil of contrasts, a country of different opinions, postures and attitudes toward life.

It is time for change, time of reflection, of awareness. The current times of streets protests come signal the degree of indignation of our population in relation to the promises of the Government and institutions in the context of the reality we are living. There is a growing movement to claim for the human rights of citizens. The Brazilian has an enormous capacity to overcome their adversities and aim for a better future. Our values ​​must be exalted and our shortcomings and problems, as far as possible, extirpated and minimized. But all this must be done in an organized manner, with respect and dignity.

There is, in Brazil, a constant comparison to international attitudes and behaviors. “National is never good. Good is what comes from outside”. We hear and we say it a lot. The Brazilian loves his country, but he compares it with other countries in relation to institutions, living conditions and quality of products and services. When traveling abroad he faces another reality where institutions work properly and the products are cheaper and better, and when he comes back to Brazil, he complains incessantly about the situation in the country saying that this will never be improved. It is then necessary to correct this distortion and implement a change in posture. There are excellent products and services in Brazil. We need to stop comparing ourselves with others and believe that we can further expand the good things we have here.

In relation to branding, there is a great challenge in our country that is the combat between regionalism and globalization in creating Brazilian brands in the process of conquering world markets. Even wanting a brand to have a national essence and to speak of our values, it faces even greater challenges when it wants to internationalize. Many Brazilian states have, in their territories, recognized regional brands. If these brands grow and need to be known in all Brazil, they will have to adapt to the national market, to be understood and to adapt in relation to their already established competitors. Later when they decide to conquer the world, even larger adjustments will have to be made to fit the attitudes, the values ​​and the culture of the countries. These brands run the risk to adapt their naming and identity to the international language and lose their Brazilian roots. Many Brazilian brands have managed to conquer their own space in several countries, but much remains to be done in relation to the ones that plan to be launched in this challenge.

In short, the challenge of the Brazilian brands is to design a quality standard for the comparison that will exist with our own national brands and then the comparison with the parameters of quality and image that will exist in relation to international brands. For any brand wishing to conquer the world, several questions will arise, among them: What national values ​​do we want to rescue? What exactly are the values ​​that represent Brazil? How much do we want to be global and how much nationalism do we want to incorporate into our identity? Difficult questions to answer in face of so much that represents our country.

In summary, the brand Brazil essentially represents this immense patchwork quilt represented by people of different backgrounds, styles and postures living together. It also represents our incredible ability to survive and adapt to so many social contrasts. One thing that became strong in the Brazilian people is the struggle between corruption and our desire for more respect and ethics in the public sphere. We have our better known values ​​that are the spontaneity, the creativity and the joy. We should be proud of the good things we have, always trying to improve the image of our country, because we are, after all, a heroic people going to fight and face all the problems with joy and good humor. This is my impression of a brand called Brazil.